Chapter 17 Forced Awakening
EMMA'S POV
Pain consumed every nerve ending in my body, fire racing through veins that felt like they were tearing apart from the inside. My bones cracked with sounds that shouldn't exist, reforming into shapes that defied everything I understood about human anatomy. Lisa's voice cut through the agony, steady and calm, anchoring me to sanity when my mind threatened to shatter completely.
"Breathe, Emma. I know it hurts, but you have to breathe through it. Let your body do what it needs to do."
Werewolves were real, Lisa was one. And apparently, so was I. I felt like I was dying and being reborn simultaneously. My fingers elongated into claws, my spine curved and stretched, my face pushed forward into a muzzle that shouldn't exist but somehow did.
"That's it," Lisa whispered, her hands stroking my changing form. "You're doing so well. Just a little longer."
I wanted to scream that nothing about this was well, that my entire understanding of reality had just been destroyed along with my human body. But the sounds coming from my throat weren't human anymore, they were whimpers and growls from a creature I didn't know how to be.
Ryan stood at the door, his body blocking anyone from entering, his eyes fixed on Sophia with hatred that could have melted steel. Daniel flanked the other side, muscles coiled and ready for violence. Between them, I caught glimpses of Alpha Samuel and Luna Margot, their faces horror-struck as they watched their daughter orchestrate torture with serious detachment.
"We didn't know," Luna Margot kept repeating, her voice breaking. "Samuel, we didn't know she was capable of this."
Sophia's laugh was cold amusement. "You didn't want to know. You saw what you wanted to see, a perfect daughter who would bring honor to your pack. You never questioned why Viktor took such interest in my welfare, why he visited so often, why I spent summers with his rogues." She circled closer to where Lisa held me. "You were useful idiots, nothing more."
The final transformation felt more draining, my entire body seized as the last pieces of humanity gave way to wolf. Then suddenly, mercifully, the pain stopped. I lay panting on cold stone, my vision became sharper than it had ever been, my hearing picking up heartbeats and whispered breaths from across the room. Four legs instead of two and fur instead of skin. A tail I didn't know how to control.
I was a wolf. Small and gray, trembling with exhaustion and confusion, but undeniably wolf.
Lisa shifted beside me, her transformation swift and graceful, nothing like the agony I had just endured. Her silver wolf was breathtaking, way larger than mine. She pressed against me, her warmth and presence offering comfort I desperately needed. My wolf instincts recognized her as pack, as safety, as home.
Sophia's slow clap echoed off the basement walls. "Beautiful. Two silver wolf bloodlines in one place. Do you know how rare that is? How valuable?" She crouched down to our level, her eyes gleaming with something that looked like greed. "Emma, your mother was brilliant at hiding. She disappeared into the human world, raised you without ever telling you what you were. But Viktor tracked her down eventually. He always does."
My wolf whimpered, grief for my mother I had lost at twelve. Lisa's wolf growled low, protective, pressing harder against me.
"Your mother's death wasn't an accident," Sophia continued, her voice almost gentle in its cruelty. "House fire, very tragic, you were at a sleepover and survived. Viktor made sure of that. He wanted you alive, monitored, and kept in the system where he could watch you. You were considered too weak to bother killing, a dormant half-blood who would probably never shift." She smiled. "Until I needed you for something more important."
My heart burned with rage at the casual way Sophia discussed murder.
"Enough," Ryan growled, his voice carrying Alpha command. "You've proven your point. Let them go."
"Let them go?" Sophia stood, brushing dust from her clothes. "Ryan, you still don't understand. This isn't about proving anything. This is about completing Viktor's ultimate plan." She gestured at Lisa and me. "Two silver wolf bloodlines, both descended from the original pack founders. Their combined blood can be used for a ritual that will give Viktor the power to control all wolves—pack and rogue alike. No more territory disputes, no more Alpha challenges. Just one voice commanding every wolf in existence."
"That's insane," Daniel said flatly. "Blood rituals are myth, stories told to scare children."
Alpha Samuel's face had gone ashen. "They're not myth," he whispered. "The old texts mention them. Ancient practices were banned centuries ago because of the power they granted and the corruption that followed." His eyes found his daughter, pleading. "Sophia, if you do this, you'll destroy the balance that's kept our species alive for millennia."
"Good," Sophia said simply. "The balance is broken anyway so Viktor will remake it better."
The basement door burst open, Silver Creek Pack warriors flooding in with military precision. But these weren't rescue—their weapons were pointed at us, their faces cold and determined. Leading them were two young men who looked like darker versions of Alpha Samuel, strong and confident and utterly loyal to Sophia.
"My brothers," Sophia said proudly. "Well, Viktor's other children, technically. We're not related by blood, but we've been planning this together since we were teenagers." She gestured at the warriors surrounding us. "Alpha Samuel, did you really think your pack was yours? Half these wolves answer to Viktor. They've been waiting years for this moment."
Luna Margot collapsed, her legs giving out as she realized the extent of the betrayal. Her entire pack, her family, everything she had believed in—compromised from within by children she'd helped raise.
Lisa shifted back to human form, her voice steady despite our desperate situation. "You won't get away with this."
"I already have." Sophia nodded to her brothers, who moved forward with silver chains designed to bind wolves. "The ritual requires a willing sacrifice or complete submission. Viktor prefers submission, you should know that it's more reliable. So you have a choice, Lisa. Submit willingly and Emma lives as Viktor's servant. Resist, and watch your best friend die screaming."
The warriors closed in, chains rattling. Ryan and Daniel fought back, but they were outnumbered twenty to two. Nathan appeared in the doorway, his face bloodied but determined, only to be tackled by three warriors at once.
One of Sophia's brothers grabbed me by the scruff, my wolf form too small and weak to resist. Lisa lunged for me, but the other brother caught her, silver chains wrapping around her neck and burning her skin. She screamed, the sound halfway between human and wolf, pain and rage mixing into something primal.
"Stop fighting," Sophia said almost kindly. "You've already lost."